NEW DELHI, Aug 17: The Congress on Tuesday alleged that the BJP government stood exposed on the oil bonds issue as it collected a whopping Rs 22.34 lakh crore by way of taxes on petroleum products and demanded that the people be given relief by reducing these taxes.
Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said at a press conference that the spending on servicing of oil bonds is just 3.2 per cent of the tax collection from petroleum products and the real reason is not the oil bonds but reduction in subsidy by 12 times and increase in taxes by three times.
“The Congress party demands that the benefit of reduced international crude oil prices be passed on to the people and the rates of Petrol-Diesel-LPG gas be reduced accordingly,” he told reporters.
Maken also demanded that petrol and diesel be brought under GST and urged the government to immediately roll back the excise duty hiked on petrol and diesel in the last seven years of the BJP government.
Maken said, “The BJP stands exposed on the issue of oil bonds. Since 2014-15 the Modi government has spent Rs 73,440 crore on servicing of oil bonds. Against this, they have collected Rs 22.34 lakh crore through taxes on petroleum products.”
Another Congress leader P Chidambaram said the finance minister’s statement that servicing oil bonds stands in the way of giving relief on petrol and diesel prices is astonishing.
“At best the statement is incredible ignorance, at the worst it is motivated malignity,” he said.
The former finance minister said if the UPA government wanted to subsidise fuel prices, it had the choice of finding the money by borrowing directly or asking the oil companies to borrow. In either case, servicing the loan (interest) would be the responsibility of the central government, he said.
“Every analyst and every lender knew that oil companies borrowed as a surrogate of the central government and mentally added the borrowing to the fiscal deficit.
“Having profited several times over through exorbitant taxes and cesses on fuel, the NDA has no right to comment on the fuel subsidy. The people know that the UPA gave them relief and the NDA is crushing them through oppressive taxes and cesses,” Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.
Maken said that in 2020-21 alone, the tax on petrol and diesel was Rs 4,53,812 crore, which is three times more than in 2013-14.
The BJP raised central taxes on petrol and diesel by Rs 23.87 and Rs 28.37 per litre in seven years.
“The Modi government has extorted Rs 22,33,868 crore by levying excise on Petrol-Diesel in the last seven years and it has collected additional Rs 1,89,711 crore every year,” he said.
The official figures of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell informs that the UPA government gave subsidy on petroleum products to the tune of Rs 1,64,387 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 1,47,025 crore in 2013-14, the Congress leader said, adding that to the contrary, the present Modi government drastically reduced this amount year after year to Rs 12,231 crore in 2020-21, he said.
The Modi government should immediately roll back its increase in excise duty, so as to bring them to the level of excise duty prevailing during the 2014-UPA government and the excise duty of Rs 23.87 on petrol and Rs 28.37 on diesel should be reduced, the Congress leader added.
Explaining why the government cannot lower the excise on petroleum products, Maken said because of lowering of corporate tax, the government needs more money to match its spendings.
The cost of lower corporate tax rates for the government is being borne by citizens in the form of higher petrol and diesel prices, he alleged.
“We are not against providing any relief to the corporate sector since it has an important role in nation building but we are against fleecing the poor, the farmers, and people to compensate for the fall in gross tax revenue from corporate. Why should the common man suffer to please ‘Hamare Do’ of ‘Hum Do’ ki Sarkaar. The government should control its extravagance to compensate for any shortfall in revenue due to reduction of corporate taxes,” the Congress leader said.
Providing data, he said since 2014-15 the Modi government has spent Rs 73,440 crore on servicing of oil bonds, against which they have collected Rs 22,33,868 crore (22.34 lakh crore) through taxes on petroleum products.
This is a miniscule 3.2 per cent of the total tax collection by the government, he said. (PTI)
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